What matters is, in the first draft and in all subsequent drafts, the CIA said its best assessment was that the attack was spontaneous and a reaction to the protests. There was no dispute about that.

You can say very well that Rice and others' statements turned out to be incorrect, but they definitely weren't lies.

I consider any statement that is purposely misleading to be a lie. By removing all the references to AQ and extremists and some other choice sections... what was presented became a lie.

It's no different than the edited 911 call by Zimmerman. By removing the important section where he was asked if the person was black, it significantly alters the narrative. It PURPOSELY misleads people. That is the same as what happened here.

AND, that may NOT be the first draft. We have no clue since we are only allowed the emails 2 days after. Who knows what was said and by who before these emails.